Did a Board Rule reportedly change at the Kennedy Center clear the way for adding Donald Trump’s name? Details explored

Earlier this year, the Kennedy Center reportedly adopted certain bylaws that would limit voting to Donald Trump-appointed trustees. The move, which is said to be a controversial move, reveals a broader plan to add Trump’s name to the center.

The new rule was now instilled for the first time on 18 December when the board voted unanimously to rebrand the building as the Donald J Trump and the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

President Donald Trump took over the board as the chair in February and placed his supporters in different positions, including foreign policy adviser Ric Grenell, who is the president of the center.

Currently, the center lists 23 ex officio members, board members appointed by Congress, and 34 presidentially appointed board members, and by law, the list must include the mayor of Washington, DC, the head of the Library of Congress, as well as minority and majority leaders of the Senate.

Roma Daravi, who is the center’s vice-president for public relations, explained to the Post why the longstanding rules changed,

"The bylaws were revised to reflect this longstanding precedent and everyone received the technical changes both before the meeting and after revisions.” Adding, "Some members (including ex officio) attended in person, others by phone, and no concerns were voiced, no one objected, and the bylaws passed unanimously.”

Fallback of the name change

The changing of the center's name has led to backlash and protests from the artists as well as members of Congress. Artists have cancelled their bookings while people like Joyce Beatty, who is a Democrat from Ohio, are suing on the grounds that these kinds of decisions require an act of Congress.

Grenell called the cancellations "a form of derangement syndrome".

He further stated that the artists cancelling shows "were booked by the previous far left leadership," adding, "Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned about booking far left political activists rather than artists willing to perform for everyone regardless of their political beliefs."

After the cancellations, Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social and also posted a string of posts.

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